The Prince and the Plumber
by Elfera
Summary: A Princess and the Pauper AU Luigi is the prince of the kingdom, who's been arranged to marry a woman he's never met, while loving another. Mario is a man who dreams to become a hero, if he can ever get out of his debt problems. A chance meeting brings these two men together, and they find themselves on an adventure of a lifetime.
1. Free

**I don't know why I'm writing this. Apparently I'm just going to write a whole bunch of Mario AUs based off of childhood movies, I guess. Next I'm probably going to make one based off of Thumbelina, or The Quest for Camelot at this rate.**

Luigi stood upon the platform, eyes closed tightly as he attempted to stay still. He knew all too well the punishment that came from moving too much, and wasn't really fond of the idea of being pricked by needles. Again. All around him were people, messing with fabrics, ribbons, and threads in an attempt to piece together the perfect suit. It was a nice suit, but unlike anything Luigi had ever worn, or would pick out for himself. It was the purest shade of white he had ever seen, accented in a few places with black, and it was completely devoid of any shade of green.

It was perfect for his upcoming wedding.

His… Wedding… To a princess of a far off kingdom, a princess he had never met.

The prince sighed, opening his eyes. Ever since his mother agreed to the marriage, Luigi hated the very idea of it. He didn't want to marry a complete and utter stranger. Yet, it was just another item to add to the list of things he didn't want to do, but had to.

"Alright, Your Highness," The head seamstress said, breaking Luigi from his thoughts, "Can you turn to face the mirror?"

Luigi nodded, and did so, staring at his miserable face that looked back at him from the mirror.

"What do you think?" The seamstress asked.

"It is…" not me "Perfect." He faked a smile, something he'd been doing a lot lately. "I can not imagine anything better." He could think of a million things that looked better than the white prison he was wearing.

"I'm glad you like it," The seamstress said, as her underlings packed everything up. "We'll leave you to get comfortable in it, you do remember how to hang it up, correct?"

"Of course."

"Then we'll be dismissed."

Luigi watched as they left, and once the door was closed Luigi turned. He held his arms up, and forced yet another lopsided grin to grace his lips.

"What do you think, Cagnolino?"

Cagnolino, the polterpup Luigi had adopted as a companion, studied the prince for a moment, before letting out a low growl.

"I thought so." Luigi sighed, "I wish I did not have to do this." He admitted, before hopping off the platform. "If it were Princess Daisy I was getting forced to marry, I would feel a little better. Not much, but at least it would not be a stranger. I have never met Princess Peach before, and now I am expected to spend the rest of my life with her."

Cagnolino whimpered, running over to Luigi to gently rub against his ankles a bit.

"Thanks Buddy," Luigi smiled, bending a little to pet the ghostly pup. After he was done, Luigi regained his posture and headed over towards the piles of gifts that littered the room.

"Everyone seems so happy for this wedding," Luigi mused, playing with a tag that featured the familiar handwriting of Princess Eclair. "Everyone that is, except me." He turned from Eclair's gift, to land his eyes onto another. For the first time, a genuine smile pulled onto Luigi's lips. He headed over to it, reaching a hand out to pluck the golden rose from the vase. He held it, as if it were the most precious thing he had ever seen, gently brushing his fingers against the petals.

"If only I had not fallen in love with another," he mused. "Maybe it wouldn't hurt as much." He put the rose back into the vase, and straightened his shoulders.

"But no matter how much my heart hurts, I must do it. This is my duty, my role as the prince. And duty means doing the things your heart may soon regret."

* * *

"Thank you so much Mario." The princess said, a soft smile on her face as she looked at the hero.

"It was no problem, Princess." Mario said, a blush appearing on his cheeks as he stared into her beautiful blue eyes. "There is no castle too far, no enemy too tough, that would cause me to not save you. I love you."

"And I, you." She smiled, leaning down to give his nose a quick peck.

"Mario!"

The red clad plumber snorted, and opened his eyes, blinking the sleep away as he stared at the face looming over him.

"Blue?"

"Thank goodness! I've been trying to wake you up for the past ten minutes! Wario and Waluigi are going to be furious if they found out you've been sleeping this late!"

"Let them," Mario muttered, but despite that he sat up, rubbing at his eyes. "How many jobs do we have today?"

"A lot, but one of the jobs is easy enough that I can do it myself." Blue told him, watching as Mario got out of bed. "But we should probably leave soon, before either of the bosses notice we're-"

"What are you two still doing here?"

Mario and Blue winced, turning towards the doorway.

"I'm not paying you two to lay around in bed all day." Wario growled.

"You're not paying us at all." Mario muttered.

"And I'm not gonna until you pay off every single coin you borrowed from us." Wario told him. "And from the looks of it, you're not getting out of here for at least another thirty three years."

"What? I've almost given you half of what I owe you!"

"Did you forget about interest?" Wario smirked. "Shame, should've thought about that before you came here on your hands and knees, begging for money."

"I did it to help my mother!"

"Your mistake." Wario hummed, before slamming the bedroom door shut.

"Stronzo." Mario muttered. He glanced over towards his bedside table, to the drawer that held the last letter his mother wrote for him. "But I will pay off this debt, and be free to become the hero I've dreamed of becoming. Just you wait."

 **Cagnolino:Doggie**

 **Stronzo:Asshole**


	2. How Could I Refuse?

**When it comes to in game, Peach is a bit out of character. When it comes to the comics, Peach is completely in character.**

* * *

"How could you do this to me?"

"Princess, please calm down. I can explain!"

"Explain what? Explain how you're ruining my life?"

"Now, dear, don't you think you're over exaggerating a bit?"

"Over-" Princess Peach stared at her ward, a mixture of shock and anger in her eyes. "You think me being angry that you've made an incredibly important decision for me, is over exaggerating? If anything I'm under exaggerating! You've made the decision to marry me off to a complete and utter stranger! And you didn't even ask me if I wanted to do this!"

"Princess…" Toadsworth sighed, "Listen, I understand that you're upset. But you must thing about this logically! By marrying Prince Luigi, you'll be combining our two kingdoms. We'll get more land, and with our economy we'll be helping the other kingdom with issues given to them by a previous ruler. Everyone will benefit with the marriage!"

"Everyone but me."

"I know it's hard, dear." Toadsworth said, placing a hand on her arm. "But it's for the best. And who knows? Maybe you'll fall in love with this prince."

* * *

The sound of the nervous magikoopa's footsteps echoed throughout the hall, as he paced outside of the throne room's door. Every-so-often, the blue-robed koopa would glance towards the door, and swallow nervously as he attempted to work up the nerve to enter the room.

"Lord Bowser is _not_ going to be happy." The magikoopa muttered, wringing his hands together. "Why am I always the one having to face his terribleness' wraith?" He moaned, before stopping in his pacing. He turned fully towards the door, and took a deep breath. "It's better to get this over and done with," he decided, before stepping forward to timidly knock upon the large door.

The magikoopa stepped back, holding his breathe, before the loud booming voice of the koopa king echoed through the hall. "Come in."

The koopa pushed open the doors, and made his way towards the giant throne. Once he was at a respectable distance, he bowed so low his nose almost touched the group.

"Greetings my lord," he said.

"What is it that you want?" Bowser growled, his elbow held onto the throne's arm, housing his head to show the magikoopa how much he truly didn't care for their conversation.

"I have news," the magikoopa said, returning to a standing position. "It is about the Mushroom Kingdom princess."

Bowser sat up, perking up at the mention of the fair princess. "Peach? What's going on with her?"

"She's been engaged." The magikoopa said, wincing as he awaited the king's reaction.

"En... gaged?" Bowser said, he sat back in his thrown, frowning as he processed the word. He sat like that for a moment, before it clicked, and jumped in his seat. "What?! Who the hell thinks that they can marry _my_ princess?" Bowser demanded.

"His name is Luigi," the magikoopa explained. "A prince from one of the neighboring kingdoms."

"Sounds like a chump."

"Indeed, my lord."

"So how do we stop this wedding?" Bowser pondered. "Kidnap the princess?"

"Normally, I would say yes." The magikoopa said. "But that's what they would expect. Not only that, but we don't have the budget to fix another blown up wall." He smiled, "But, I have another idea that will not only get Prince Luigi out of the way, but get the princess to agree to marry you."


End file.
